Tears of an Angel
by Lady of the Phoenix
Summary: What happens when an angel cries?


Author's Notes: As is totally normal for me, any depressed state I get into turns into a very depressing fic, usually deathish. This one you can blame on the latest Harry Potter book. Please, keep comments on this book to yourselves as I don't desire to ruin it for anyone who is yet to read it. Once more, Nida is the poor sap…

Tears of an Angel

I never really thought that I'd see this day, you know? Sure, I'd been through it many times before, once myself, but this was different. This was my baby girl's wedding. Well, she's not really my baby girl, she is twenty years old, but she'll always be my little Renee.

They say that weddings are emotional things, and even I cannot escape that, though I still preserve my stoicism rather well I think. I didn't cry when I got married, despite the tears of others. In fact, I was tearless at all the weddings I went to, save those of my children.

"Daddy!" came a cheerful shout at the reception, and strong, young arms wrapped around my neck. I wrapped my own stronger arms around her waist, tears threatening my vision, but only staying at bay in hopes that she doesn't receive them on her fine dress.

"My little Renee is all grown up now," I whispered in her ear, causing her to pull away and glare at me. She has that icy glare of mine down perfectly, better than my son Leon.

"I am hardly little anymore daddy!" she insisted. And how right she is. She is over five foot now, with long black hair and almond shaped eyes of stormy blue in her heart-shaped face. Her body was pale like mine, but there were underlying signs of strength from the few sports she had played while away at college.

"You'll always be my little girl Renee," I pointed out coolly.

"Well, at this rate I'm not going to dance with you!" she declared loudly. She gets her ways from Rinoa most of the time."

A slight smile came to my face and I stood, taking one pale hand in my own. We had always shared the traditional dance, so not it was merely for fun. The young girl dragged me and my fifty year old body to the dance floor amid others and smiled. I'm very glad, at times like these, that I refused Rinoa's desires to get the girl an overly extravagant dress with a large train. This one was merely a white dress, well embroidered, that fit well but was not showy. It was nice beside the traditional cut of the groom's tux.

Renee and I began to dance once a new song was struck up. Our movements were fluid, something that rarely happened with my ex-wife, her mother. Yes as we glided across the floor I tripped slightly (I have never danced well) and bumped into another couple. Flustered by this turn of events, I turn around to apologize, and my eyes met a set of emerald greens out of the past. Something like amusement was written in the eyes of his dance partner, my dear friend Quistus.

"We really must stop meeting like this on the dance floor Squall," he says cheerfully, but I detect an edge of sorrow in his voice.

"Nida?" I asked in shock. "Nida Nomura?"

Now, please understand the shock I am experiencing now. No one had seen Nida since my own wedding thirty years ago. To my knowledge he was the only one involved in the Sorceress War that never stayed in the same general area in the end. I had been Headmaster a bit before going to Esthar to work for Laguna. Zell became the Balamb Garden SeeD Commander and Quistus, his wife, the Headmistress. Selphie and Irvine had gone to Trabia to help out, and Seifer moved to Winhill with Elle. Even Fujin and Raijin went to Galbidia while Nida dropped off the face of the planet.

"I am amazed that you remember me. I spent nearly a year with Quistus and Xu on the bridge and still the lovely Mrs. Dincht did not know me when she saw me at the bar," he chuckled.

Before I could ask why he was here, at my daughter's wedding, Renee jumped into his arms and gave him a fierce hug. This confused me even more than anything else today, even Nida's presence.

"It's great to see you Nida! Remus said you might not make it," Renee said happily.

So, he was a friend of Remus, the groom. But how a twenty-one year old Remus knew a forty-nine year old Nida is beyond me. I might think he was Remus's father if Nida wore a wedding band, or if they shared a last name, or if they looked alike. Nida was a tall man of Asian appearance with those stunning green eyes and black hair, while Remus was a brunette with blue eyes.

"Miss the day you joined the family! Never!" Nida said as he hugged Renee harder.

The shock must have been written on my face, because Nida quickly released Renee and gave his explanations. "Squall, I adopted Remus when he was five… I never chose to give him my last name."

Whoa, that was something I didn't expect.

"But, may I cut in not that I am here? I would love to dance with my new daughter-in-law."

I allowed him to cut in and watched the two dance off. Soon I returned to the bar with Quistus, who was chattering happily about the wedding. The whole time my eyes lingered on the sorrowful Asian. Something about him seemed out of place… He hadn't seemed to have aged very much. And when he span with Renee on the dance floor, I could feel his eyes meet mine. Worse, it set my heart pounding.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Quistus said as the bartender gave us our drinks.

"Well, the last time I saw him was my own wedding Quistus… Thirty years and suddenly he's an in-law?"

"Only you would put it such a way," she remarked with a sigh.

"What other way is there to put it?" I questioned.

"He has isolated himself Squall since you married Rinoa. You left her last year, FINALLY might I add, and he shows up."

As interesting as that is…

"Look at him Squall," she said softly, "You can see it can't you? He's overjoyed for Remus and Renee, just as you are, but he also hides something, some pain. Just like you do."

I have to agree there. Sure, I was glad when my eldest daughter, Raine was wed to the blond, blue-eyed Dincht boy Tiran, but I was in pain for Renee was not there for her sister, Renee only ten at the time and out of the country to visit her grandfather General Caraway at her mother's command. Then at Leon's wedding two years ago, when he finally tied the knot with Couri Tilmitt-Kinneas, I was just recovering from a major injury that almost stole me from my children. Last year I'd entirely missed the wedding of Xera, the daughter of Seifer and my sister Ellone, when she wed the son of Fujin and Raijin. I know pain well, and he bears it.

Now Nida has bowed to Renee and moves off of the dance floor towards the balcony.

"He is about to walk out of our lives again," came another voice behind me. "Well, out of Squally-boy's life really."

"Seifer," I growled at him. Though I trust him, I hate him sneaking up on me.

The old blond warrior sipped at a powerful drink, not even looking at me, but after Nida. No one, even Ellone, knows me like he does. He can see it in my eyes. Something draws me to Nida, something always has. Seifer knows that I looked for Nida after my own wedding, the Asian had run off, but I never found Nida. With a minor shove from Seifer, I rose from my seat and followed Nida into the sweet evening air.

We are alone against the black backdrop of the night. Slowly he turns to face me, and tears streak down his gentle features. Most amazing to me is the halo of stars above his head and the three sets of radiant white wings adorning his back.

"Nida?" I question in shock.

"I'm so sorry Squall," he whispered before turning away.

"What is this Nida?" I question as I move to him.

"You have to understand Squall, I didn't mean for it to end like this. I swear I didn't. You were just so in love with me, more than any others in _so_ long," he practically wept.

"Slow down Nida. You are confusing me," I said, not understanding how he could claim that I was in love with him.

Quickly Nida turned on me, and looked me deep in the eyes. Eternal pain was reflected in the vibrant green, such beautiful orbs contrasting with the sudden appearance of robes upon his body.

"Look at me Squall. Look _very_ hard. See what other mortals see in me…" he pleaded. "Stop loving me and make it easier for me to do my duty."

He had an edge to his voice that I could not deny. So I did what he asked of me. For a long time I stared at the Asian beauty, marveling in the shape of his body, or what it must be under those robes, and the seeming delicacy of his form. Really, he was such a beautiful being.

"STOP IT!" Nida shouted angrily. "Stop glorifying me Squall. You've been doing it since you were a teen. It is what put me in this damn situation!"

His anger seemed to chance his appearance to me. The glorious white robes became jet black. His hands were suddenly skeletal, one holding a scroll, the other holding a large scythe. His wings seemed to disappear. Nida was the image of the Grim Reaper. The male must have known I saw him for 'what he was' now, and let out a sigh.

"You are…"

"The angel of death," he supplied. The 'a' word allowed me to quickly see him as the radiant and divine being once more. "Please Squall, stop that."

"Explain," I prompted, sounding like Fujin but not caring.

New tears ran down his face, and I pulled him into my arms to comfort him. He did not resist this simple action.

"It is my job to take the dead from this world until they are to be reborn. I was supposed to take you Squall, long ago, but I couldn't. You were supposed to die, and you wanted it! You were in love with death, with me. I… I loved you too Squall, so I decided to postpone your death."

"How?"

"My tears, I mourned your constantly, and by doing so lengthened your life. But… I'm so happy you left Rinoa, and about this wedding. I can't cry anymore Squall, and you'll die because of it."

I was moved to deeply by this revelation. He loved me enough, obviously for years, to mourn me daily. And I hated myself for 'making' him love me. Yet… I love him, more than I loved death.

"How long have you been crying for me?" I questioned.

His soft fingers brushed against the scar that cut between my eyes and I shivered. I could understand that gesture easily. He had done this for me since the day I earned this scar. He'd mourned my death for almost all of my life.

"What… What would have happened otherwise?" I asked. "What would have happened if I had died then?"

"Rinoa would have been sealed away by Seifer, Edea too. But it would have caused Ultimecia to reoccur forever."

Nida smiled sadly as I tried to kiss away his tears. "Please… Don't."

"Let me die Nida, and be with you in death."

"I can't," he whispered.

"Don't shed your tears for me Nida. I'm not worth it."

"You're more than worthy," he whispered in response.

"Then show me. Let me make you happy Nida. Death is lonely, but not always without love."

The angel gasped as I pressed my lips against his. His lips weren't cold as myths would suggest, but warm and sweet to the taste. After a few moments he gave in and his lips pressed lovingly against mine. Soon we were making out on the balcony. I never expected this. He _is_ heaven.

"You've got a month," he whispered softly in my ear. "I'll try to see you before then my love."

* * *

Hyne have mercy, I've become too addicted to the taste of death. Well… he isn't really the Angel of Death here, as I am not the lesser Angel of Grief here. Here we are Squall and Nida, and nothing stops up from being in love.

"Squall," his voice called out as I hear the flutter of his six wings.

"I am here," I respond, waiting happily in our garden.

The seraphim came out to me, tears streaking his face. Fear gripped my heart now. Did he love another now? His pure white wings shuddered before they wrapped around us upon reaching me. My own silvery wings mingled with his as I watched him.

"Renee…" he whispered and my heart suddenly ached. Not often was there pain in heaven, but now…

"No," I whispered sadly and buried my head in his silky hair.

Our tears mingled as we mourned the untimely death of my daughter.

* * *

"Daddy?" the younger of the twin boys, Squall, asked.

"Yes Squall?" Remus answered as the elder twin, Nida, leaned against him.

"Do you think it is raining because angels are crying for mommy?"

What could the man say? The boys were only six, and their mother had been murdered only a week before this funeral.

"Yes Squall, I do."

Squall caught a drop of the water in his hand and watched in shock as it turned into a crystal.

Such was what happened when humans came in contact with the tears of an angel…


End file.
